The Role Of Intuition In Ethical Decision Making

The literature regarding ethical decision making has focused almost exclusively on examination of variables that test relationships between individual or situational differences and ethicality. These examinations, on the whole, have not been fruitful. Little attention has been given to the actual process of ethical decision making to try to explain how ethical decisions are made, not just under what circumstances they might occur. Recently, some authors have begun to suggest that intuition and affect might play an important role in our ethical decision making processes. This paper examines evidence as to whether the ethical decision making process uses both rationality and intuition working conjointly, and under what conditions might one or the other more strongly influence the ethical decision process.